Cuong’s music has been featured in venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center, and his works for wind ensemble have garnered over a thousand performances worldwide. In his music, he enjoys exploring the unexpected and whimsical, and he is often drawn to projects where he can make peculiar combinations and sounds feel enchanting or oddly satisfying. His notable works thus include concerti for tuba and dueling oboes, percussion quartets utilizing wine glasses and sandpaper, and pieces for double reed sextet, cello octet, and solo snare drum. 

This eclecticism extends to the variety of musical groups he writes for, and he has worked closely with ensembles ranging from middle school bands to Grammy-winning orchestras and chamber groups. Passionate about bridging these different facets of the contemporary music community, his recent works include Vital Sines, a concerto for Eighth Blackbird and the United States Navy Band; Re(new)al, a concerto for percussion quartet with a variety of ensemble accompaniments; and Second Nature, a saxophone quartet concerto. 

Formerly the California Symphony’s Young American Composer-in-Residence, Cuong is currently Composer-in-Residence of the Pacific Symphony and serves as Assistant Professor of Music Composition at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He holds degrees from Princeton University (MFA/PhD), the Curtis Institute of Music (AD), and the Peabody Conservatory (BM/MM).